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Aer Lingus Flights to San Francisco if Employers Pay Up

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  • 03-05-2013 5:00pm
    #1
    ScottSF
    Registered Users Posts: 380 ✭✭


    I heard this on NewsTalk radio today and was curious to find out more information on what is being proposed.
    http://www.newstalk.ie/Aer-Lingus-considers-San-Francisco-flights

    Aer Lingus is suggesting they will fly direct from Dublin to San Francisco if the multi-nationals with Dublin-based operations guarantee ticket sales. I've never heard this approach before so I was surprised and wonder what people think. Shouldn't supply and demand be enough to get the price and frequency right?

    I do not have data but I believe that San Francisco flights would do quite well year round. First the obvious - with numerous Silicon Valley companies having their European HQ here in Dublin the flights would be a huge time saver for their staff. Second, San Francisco is one of the top destinations to visit in the U.S. - sights, food, culture, parks, wine, ... And of course Ireland gets tons of tourist coming from the West Coast who would rather fly via SFO.

    Plus people could visit Dublin for a few days before taking low-cost flights to other destinations. That is what happens with London, Paris, Amsterdam, etc... since they get so many of the direct flights from America. I know you can always stop in NYC or Chicago on the way, but direct makes it much more convenient especially in winter.

    I wonder if the government would ever lower the taxes on Dublin to West Coast U.S. flights to encourage carries to start up such routes including Aer Lingus and United Airlines. Not just to SF but also Los Angeles as well.
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    #2
    BuffyBot
    Registered Users Posts: 24,924 ✭✭✭✭BuffyBot


    Aer Lingus is suggesting they will fly direct from Dublin to San Francisco if the multi-nationals with Dublin-based operations guarantee ticket sales. I've never heard this approach before so I was surprised and wonder what people think. Shouldn't supply and demand be enough to get the price and frequency right?

    No. It's actually more common than you think. Corporate contracts support quite a few routes.
    I do not have data but I believe that San Francisco flights would do quite well year round. First the obvious - with numerous Silicon Valley companies having their European HQ here in Dublin the flights would be a huge time saver for their staff. Second, San Francisco is one of the top destinations to visit in the U.S. - sights, food, culture, parks, wine, ... And of course Ireland gets tons of tourist coming from the West Coast who would rather fly via SFO.
    I wonder if the government would ever lower the taxes on Dublin to West Coast U.S. flights to encourage carries to start up such routes including Aer Lingus and United Airlines. Not just to SF but also Los Angeles as well.

    DAA have already offered an incentive (http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=81146069). The only runners would be EI or United (as the only other major US airline with a sizeable international hub in SF). United seems unlikely as it wouldn't support daily service and it would tie up aircraft they could use elsewhere.

    I think the problem here is that they obviously didn't do well enough before, which is why they were dropped. Having agreements with companies would help change that.


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